Fixing up our second home, one project after another.

Best. Week.

It has been an AMAZING past week. I mean seriously. We have gotten SO much done that it is unbelievable. And we actually did some of the work ourselves! The big stuff (kitchen cabinets) we can’t take credit for, but we can take credit for tying up a lot of loose ends and making this place look phenomenal (just one girl’s opinion, but hey, we really love this house now!).

Not related to house stuff, unless you consider this blog to be part of our house work (which it is, so I guess I actually needed this): I got a new laptop. WOHOO! And by new, I mean that we bought it from Pat’s work, it was refurbished, and it’s actually a few years old. But it’s new to me, and it’s red – so I think it’s pretty freakin’ awesome. The company has been talking about selling the old ones as they replace them, but then they said that they wouldn’t sell them – something about licensing and Microsoft? But then on Monday, Pat asks me if I still wanted one because there were a few available. Come on – did you even have to ask? Of course I want one of those pretty little things that I can sit on the couch with and type on this blog and surf the worldwideweb. I’m moving into last era this week … new phone (Android – whatz up!) and a laptop!

Seriously, our house is not really this dusty!

Now on to the house …

First, you wouldn’t believe how stinkin’ hard it is to find grey curtains – platinum, silver, charcoal, gray, ash, iron, slate, lead, gunmetal. I’ve found curtains online in those colors, but always they were either sheer, clearanced and out of stock, or just teasing me – as in they just weren’t available once you tried to order them. What the heck? So, I finally found some online at J.C. Penney, who has a multitude of curtain/drapery selection if you’re looking, and they were on sale for $16.99/panel! Hollah! And, we need six, so count it – that’s only $110 with shipping; which for those of you in the rental world is a crazy good deal! When they arrived, and I opened them, they were totally sheer – totally not what we (I) was looking for. Totally disappointed, and the search would continue. We went to J.C.Penney last night – because I order everything online, but then take it to the store to return it (weird, I know – because I probably wouldn’t have to return so much if I just went to the store first?) … anywho, while there, we went to look at curtains and found exactly what we (I) were looking for! Well, not exactly. The fabric and color was spot on! But the style was a bit off. I wanted grommet style (metal rings at the top the rod slides through), these curtains only came in rod-pocket style (just push the rod through the fabric and it bunches up on top). But, the search was over – this is my new idea of exactly what I want. The sales lady went to the back, came out with 6 panels, and said, “These were the last 6 left in this color.” So, it was destiny. AND, then she rung them up and they were on sale for … wait for it … $14.99/panel! Hollah! The return of the first crazy good deal had just turned into the radical deal of the century – $89 for all six curtain panels!

Side note – I think that it’s dumb that curtains are sold in single panels.

Second side note – I was going to just make them, because I know that some of ya’all are like – “Why don’t you just buy the fabric and sew the exact curtains you want?” Because I am completely capable of doing this, right? Because it would have been more expensive than $89 – that’s why! (Real reason is because I’m lazy and no joke, the fabric would have been way more than $89 and it would have taken me a whole weekend, and I’ve got other stuff to do. Did you hear that Real Housewives of Orange County is back and I’m in an American Idol fantasy league – oh yeah.)

They actually are about the same color as the couch and fireplace …

Second, I finally cleaned up my room. It won’t stay like this, but I did finally clean it up. Since we’ve lived here, I’ve had a pile of clothes, hampers, and crates that span from my side of the bed to my dresser – taking up that entire wall. It’s only about 5′ of wall, it’s not a mansion people. I know that it’s bothered Pat because he hates my piles, so I’m totally sorry darling … enjoy it for now, because no doubt, at some point that pile will be back. (I can’t ever, ever seem to get my closets organized – maybe for like a week, but once I have to do laundry = organization over. I have always really wanted to be that person with the super duper organized closet, with a place for every shoe and belt and scarf – and I tell Pat that when I get that custom built, 500 sq. ft. closet of my own, things will be organized to the max – or at least I can contain my mess inside that room and hide it from him? Good enough right? I swear, I’m uber organized in other aspects of my life.)

So, now our bedroom is clean. And we have blinds on the windows (versus the sweet blanket curtains).

I had another sweet, funny paragraph here … but somehow the computer erased it when I was posting (I think my controller is broken …). So, anyway … I painted a shutter. Just one. With spray paint primer. It looked great, but was going to take 2 or 3 cans of spray paint per shutter (translation – at least $50). So, we got out an airless paint gun Pat’s dad had given us … that one didn’t work but gave us a great idea. And we took that idea all the way to Home Depot, where we bought a brand new paint gun sprayer thingy. I am going to do some painting of all sorts of things now – shutters, wicker chairs, bench, front porch, and all the other stuff I can find that we need painted around here. Plus now I can paint the shutters the exact same color as our interior trim so it matches exactly! It’s freakin’ sweet!

BooYah!

Fourthly … we have chair rail. Yep, you read that right! We had a rainy day last week, so our contractor came back and hung the chair rail. I’m not even sure how he did it because our DR was a wreck. We had to clear out all of the kitchen, so now our table is covered in glass stuff. The DR floors have bags all over them, and the buffet is covered is crap that is usually on our table (my piles, again … ). We came home, and everything was exactly as we left it – crap and all – but we had chair rail. Seriously, these guys are magic. And, it looks so good!

Seriously – HOW did they hang chair rail in this room???

Fifthly … we added some decorative accents, inside and out! I’m so excited to have nicer weather and start using our front porch again! Inside – I found a pillow at Pier One that exactly matches the pattern of my chair. I finally finished organizing the mantel – for some reason this space really bothers me. I’m not a knick-knack type person, so I was having a really hard time figuring out what to put up there that wouldn’t look ridiculous. I mean, other than clocks or knick-knacks (candles, figurines, etc.), what the heck goes on a mantel? Anyway, I ordered a plant dome to put where that vase is, because eventually those flowers will die and smell. (But aren’t they pretty? Pat bought them for me on Friday because I got some great work news and was having such a great week – I think he’s a pretty super husband!) Outside – I found some clearanced out chair covers for the wicker chairs on the front porch. And, when I got home and made sure that those fit … I went back and bought a couple of pillows for the bench, and ordered a rug online (rug coming in later pictures because it’s not here yet).

Crazy, right?

I think that the neighbors may have been getting annoyed with my wind chimes … ??

Finally, our kitchen cabinets are being painted … as I type and you read this (unless you are reading this like a week after I posted it; because by then you are looking at an old post and should also read the one after this when I tell you about our totally finished kitchen cabinets). So far, he has deglossed, sanded, and primed most of them. He said he’ll be done later this week and everything will be painted and ready to be hung! WOHOO one more time! Pat & I are going to tackle hanging the cabinet doors (they’ve got these pre-made guides at Home Depot so we don’t mess up our drilling holes, so we can totally do this – got it in the bag). We need to go buy hinges and knobs and drawer pulls, but then our kitchen is going to look half-way sweet. Because we still have mega ugly counter-tops and sink, and I still have to paint the walls, and we still have to do something with the floors.

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